Fire Department Goes Public With Reports

Information Available Through Signup

Friday, November 9, 2012

— City residents can now learn what the Springdale Fire Department is doing each day.

The department is sending out a daily summary Monday through Friday, to those who sign up for the service. The summary notices can come by e-mail or by text message to cellphones, said Mike Irwin, fire chief.

Web Watch

People can sign up for free Fire Department message summaries at:

https://local.nixle.com/register/

http://www.springdaleark.org/department/fire_department/index.php

“This is something that was used in Pocatello,” Irwin said. “The department was looking at ways to use social media and this seemed to be the best fit.”

Irwin was picked as the new fire chief in July, coming from his position as chief of the Pocatello, Idaho, fire department.

The message system, through the Nixle alert service website, is up and ready to go, Irwin said. The messages include which shift is working — A, B or C shift — the training scheduled for the day and a summary of calls for the previous day.

On Wednesday, B shift answered 31 calls, according to the daily message. The calls included emergency medical service, motor vehicle accidents, fires, hazards and false alarms. Thursday’s training was hazardous materials, hydrant service and night fire ground drills.

John Gladden, a retired firefighter, said the public should receive such information.

“It’s the taxpayer’s money that pays for the Fire Department,” Gladden said. “I think its important for them to know what the department is doing. The public needs to know they are not sitting around playing checkers and dominos.”

Stephanie Sisco, department administrative assistant, sends out most of the daily reports, Irwin said.

“It only takes me a couple of minutes to add up the numbers, and a couple more to send it to the website,” Sisco said.

The website has the ability to post to Facebook and to Twitter, Irwin said.

“All the daily reports are going to our Facebook page,” Irwin said. “We don’t have a Twitter account.”

Eventually, the messages could warn people of major fires, Irwin said.

“If we have a big fire that blocks the street, we could warn people so they could plan to go another way,” Irwin said.

The email and texts are better than Facebook alone, Irwin said, because they are an active way to reach people.

“You have to be looking for what is happening to go to Facebook,” Irwin said. “People can read these messages with the rest of the ones they get each day.”

“I think the messages are great,” said Charles Farmer, a member of the Springdale Civil Service Commission. “I think some other city departments should pick up on this and send them out too.”

The service does not take the place of the city’s emergency notification system, Irwin said.